Sloww Sunday 024: Zen Stories, Truth + Tech, Do What You Love

Sloww Sunday Newsletter 024 (July 26, 2020) — Zen Stories, Truth + Tech, How To Do What You Love, & More

Hi friends,

Sloww Sunday is a newsletter focused on slowing down to awaken the art of living.

In a world of information overload, here’s timeless wisdom worth your attention.

1. Sloww Stuff

🆕 What is a Talent Stack? (& How I’m Thinking about My Unique Stack) — The “talent stack” is a concept from Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert. It’s a simple way to think about your life purpose (especially if you want to make money doing what you love). In this new post, I put the talent stack to the test by using myself as an example.

Updated: What is the Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins? (& How Does it Compare to Ikigai?) — Updated content and new infographics.

Updated: What is the Flywheel Effect by Jim Collins? (& How to Build Momentum for your Life Purpose) — Updated infographic.

2. Video I’m Watching

📺 4 Zen Stories That Will Change How You Think About Life
(9 mins | The Art of Improvement on YouTube)

This is a concise intro video to four different Zen stories:

The Farmer’s Horse (non-judgment)
The Learned Man (unlearning)
The Couple on the Donkey (being yourself)
The Move (what you seek is what you find)

“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” — Zen Kōan

3. Podcast I’m Enjoying

🎧 Can Truth Survive Big Tech? — Tristan Harris on the Rebel Wisdom Podcast
(60 mins | Apple | Spotify)

Tristan Harris has been called the “closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience.” After working for Google, he co-founded the Center for Humane Technology which aims to ethically re-align technology with humanity. It’s fun to see what Harris has been up to lately—he’s someone I mentioned in my very first blog post on Sloww about digital minimalism three years ago. Key message of the podcast: attention is sacred.

“In order to make peace with technology, we have to make peace with ourselves.” — Tristan Harris

4. Article I’m (Re)reading

📖 How To Do What You Love
(20 mins | Paul Graham)

Straightforward, practical advice from Paul Graham. I appreciate his “always produce” heuristic and am intrigued by his thinking that only a few hundred thousand people out of billions have found work they love to do.

“To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We’ve got it down to four words: ‘Do what you love.’ But it’s not enough just to tell people that. Doing what you love is complicated.” — Paul Graham

5. Quote I’m Contemplating

“Why am I here? The point is to be part of the increasing livingness of life … the service to life, this concept of I am life, therefore, I, like all life, am here to make the whole world more alive. Try that on and let that color your perceptions.”

— Charles Eisenstein

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Feedback: It’s always appreciated! Please send me an email or reach out socially.

Also, please let me know if you come across anything interesting that’s on the same wavelength as Sloww. I may be able to include it in an upcoming newsletter.

Have an alive week!

Kyle Kowalski
Founder, Sloww